On the scariest night of the year FAU traveled to San Antonio, Texas to face UTSA (8-7-3, 3-5-2 AAC) in a de facto tournament match. The winner of the match could find themselves in the AAC tournament as long as Tulsa lost to Memphis. Sadly for both teams Tulsa tied, but the final regular season match of the season had all the excitement for an eventful Halloween night.
The dramatic evening was full of offensive attacks in the first half, but neither team found a goal to break the 0-0 tie. UTSA had double the attacks in the first though, with the Roadrunners earning six shots while Florida Atlantic accumulated three shots.
Coming out of the half, both teams were aggressive. In the 52nd minute Sutton Markee (pictured below, Angelina LaBelle) scored off a header to give the Owls a 1-0 advantage, Markee’s first goal of the season. Michelle Horan had the assist. In response, UTSA dominated in possession for the next 14 minutes and found an equalizer in the 66th minute from a Jordyn Hyland goal.
The final 20 minutes became arguably the most important final minutes of the season for both teams. The final attacks led to UTSA taking the lead in the 82nd minute. For the remainder of the match, the Roadrunners ran out the clock to guarantee a victory. FAU fell 2-1 to close out the season as they will miss the AAC tournament.
Markee scored the lone goal for Florida Atlantic. UTSA had 14 shots with 10 on goal while FAU had six shots with three on goal. The match ended with 30 fouls, 14 by the Owls, 16 by the Roadrunners. UTSA led in corner attempts with their total of seven, while FAU had five. Three Owls earned yellow cards on the night: Daniella Diaz, Drew Dempsey (pictured above, Angelina LaBelle), and Madison Micioni.
Florida Atlantic finishes the season with a 3-11-4 overall record and a 2-6-2 AAC record. The overall wins total is the lowest number of wins for a FAU team since 1994. The Owls finished 10th out of 11 teams in the AAC, missing a conference tournament for the first time since 2014.